Ice cream, etc.: Family guide to frozen treats around Seattle

By Fiona Cohen

Jul 14, 2018

Rawpixel

Updated for Summer 2019

On a hot day, eating something sweet and frozen is a pure pleasure. Seattle doesn't have that many hot days, but it does have a delightful array of frozen treat options to enjoy when the sun does start beating down. Whether you are reconnecting with your kids after picking them up from day camp, or taking a pit stop between weekend play activities, these times over ice cream are great moments to bond and chat with older kids. With little kids, it's just fun to watch them get blissfully sticky. Here are some favorite spots in different neighborhoods.

Things to keep in mind: It might be helpful to pack wet wipes, particularly if the day is hot and/or the kids are young. If there is someone in your party who doesn't eat dairy, you should call ahead to find out what the day's dairy-free options are. My lactose-intolerant son is never going to forget the time he was 9 and he went with a friend's family to a fancy ice cream place, only to find the only flavor he could have was cucumber. When kids walk into an ice cream place, their expectations are high, and disappointment really stings.

Downtown area

Gelato is lower fat than conventional ice cream – it is made with a greater proportion of milk. It also has less air pumped into it. The result is a dense, intensely flavored and often vividly colored treat. Gelatiamo makes its own gelatos and sorbets from scratch in its downtown shop.

Also in Pike Place Market, Shy Giant serves both ice cream and frozen yogurt, and boasts an eccentric range of flavors, including such concoctions as salted popcorn and black licorice. They offer multiple vegan options.

Each month, this shop offers eight different flavors, including one non-dairy. They post the lineup on their website. The July 2018 lineup includes a brilliant purple ube queso ice cream, blackberry and molasses ice cream and Turkish spiced chocolate ice cream. Some children (and adults) are likely to be too conservative for this place, so be sure to run the menu by your party in advance.

Old School Frozen Custard

1316 E Pike St, (206) 324-2586

Frozen custard is like ice cream, but with eggs as well as sugar, milk and cream. Old School makes its own fresh daily, with a handful of flavors, including vanilla and chocolate. All are most definitely dairy.

Scoop du Jour Ice Creamery

4029 E Madison St, (206) 325-9562

This Madison Park neighborhood landmark has a range of ice cream and several flavors of sorbet.

The arrival of this Portland export in Seattle excited local foodies. The menu includes familiar flavors and a rotating repertoire of concoctions based on seasonal local products, and there are some tasty non-dairy options. More details here.

This local favorite has an ethos of community involvement. Three examples: they give 1 percent of their sales away to charities, they host culinary classes for Seattle Public Schools, and they buy the cookies they use to make their Scout Mint ice cream directly from local girl scouts. The menu includes both standard and unorthodox flavors (Earl Grey, anyone?), and 90 percent of the ingredients come from the Pacific Northwest. There are non-dairy options.

Load your cup with any combination of soft-serve frozen yogurts or sorbets, say, boysenberry and dulce de leche, decorate with a whimsical array of toppings, say, raspberries and gummy worms, and pay for your cool treat by weight.

A wide range of house-made flavors, for both the adventurous and the conservative, plus a room full of pinball and arcade games. For a certain kind of kid, it's a perfect outing. There are excellent non-dairy options, including multiple flavors of chocolate. More details here.

Georgetown

Just opened in June 2018, this shop serves donuts and soft-serve ice cream. But it's a new take on soft serve. There are six flavors, all dairy, all made in the shop: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, black sesame, ube and matcha. You pick flavors, plus accessories such as fruity pebbles to mix in or use as a topping.

Southeast Seattle

12 Scoops

4267 S Orcas St, (206) 723-3190

This Hillman City store serves the usual flavors and some unusual. (Fried vanilla is an option.) They try to have one or two dairy-free options available.

This local favorite has an ethos of community involvement. Three examples: they give 1 percent of their sales away to charities, they host culinary classes for Seattle Public Schools, and they buy the cookies they use to make their Scout Mint ice cream directly from local girl scouts. The menu includes both standard and unorthodox flavors (Earl Grey, anyone?), and 90 percent of the ingredients come from the Pacific Northwest. There are non-dairy options.

A wide range of house-made flavors for both the adventurous and the conservative, plus a room full of pinball and arcade games. For a certain kind of kid, it's a perfect outing. There are excellent non-dairy options, including multiple flavors of chocolate. More details here.

A wide range of house-made flavors for both the adventurous and the conservative, plus a room full of pinball and arcade games. For a certain kind of kid, it's a perfect outing. There are excellent non-dairy options, including multiple flavors of chocolate. More details here.

Load your cup with any combination of soft-serve frozen yogurts or sorbets, say, boysenberry and dulce de leche, decorate with a whimsical array of toppings, say, raspberries and gummy worms, and pay for your cool treat by weight.

Queen Anne

This local favorite has an ethos of community involvement. Three examples: they give 1 percent of their sales away to charities, they host culinary classes for Seattle Public Schools, and they buy the cookies they use to make their Scout Mint ice cream directly from local girl scouts. The menu includes both standard and unorthodox flavors (Earl Grey, anyone?), and 90 percent of the ingredients come from the Pacific Northwest. There are non-dairy options.

Load your cup with any combination of soft-serve frozen yogurts or sorbets, say, boysenberry and dulce de leche, decorate with a whimsical array of toppings, say, raspberries and gummy worms, and pay for your cool treat by weight.

Magnolia

Nutty Squirrel makes ice cream the Italian way, using less air and cream and more milk. The list of flavorful confections they have for sale is available on their website. There are three different vegan options.

Northwest

Ice Cream made from scratch in this Ballard store, using local ingredients. Many flavors vary by season, but there's always chocolate, vanilla and several other favorites, including mint stracciatella, which is mint made of spearmint from the Parfait garden and local farms, along with slivers of Theo chocolate. Fans of mint chocolate chip should definitely sample it. There are several vegan options on offer.

This company makes ice cream from scratch and soda from scratch. If floats are your thing, this is the place for you. They reliably have at least two options without dairy. And even if you can eat milk products at will, you'll likely be tempted by their Horchata vegan ice cream.

Well known at farmers markets around town, this company now makes and sells its popsicles at this Wallingford store, which offers popsicle fans a greater selection, plus the option of chocolate embellishments. The menu is about evenly split between dairy and non-dairy options.

Fainting Goat serves gelato – ice cream made using Italian methods, with milk rather than cream – and sorbet, both made in its Wallingford store. True to the name, some of the gelato is made with goat milk.

Nutty Squirrel makes ice cream the Italian way, using less air and cream and more milk. The list of flavorful confections they have for sale is available on their website. There are three different vegan options.

This local favorite has an ethos of community involvement. Three examples: they give 1 percent of their sales away to charities, they host culinary classes for Seattle Public Schools, and they buy the cookies they use to make their Scout Mint ice cream directly from local girl scouts. The menu includes both standard and unorthodox flavors (Earl Grey, anyone?), and 90 percent of the ingredients come from the Pacific Northwest. There are non-dairy options.

A wide range of house-made flavors, for both the adventurous and the conservative, plus a room full of pinball and arcade games. For a certain kind of kid, it's a perfect outing. There are excellent non-dairy options, including multiple flavors of chocolate. More details here.

The arrival of this Portlandia export in Seattle excited local foodies. The menu includes familiar flavors and a rotating repertoire of concoctions based on seasonal local products. More details here.

Zoeyogurt

6900 East Green Lake Way N Suite E, (206) 829-8270

This Green Lake self-serve yogurt place is part of a chain of two (the other one is on the Eastside, in Newcastle). You choose your flavors. (They rotate, and there is always at least one without dairy), add toppings at will and pay by the ounce.

Load your cup with any combination of soft-serve frozen yogurts or sorbets, say, boysenberry and dulce de leche, decorate with a whimsical array of toppings, say, raspberries and gummy worms, and pay for your cool treat by weight.

This chain opened in summer 2018, in the University District. They make Thai ice cream rolls, confections made by spreading a mix on a supercooled surface – an "antigriddle", they call it – then rolling it up and adding toppings. Watching how it's done is part of the fun.

A wide range of house-made flavors for both the adventurous and the conservative, plus a room full of pinball and arcade games. For a certain kind of kid, it's a perfect outing. There are excellent non-dairy options, including multiple flavors of chocolate. More details here.

This local favorite has an ethos of community involvement. Three examples: they give 1 percent of their sales away to charities, they host culinary classes for Seattle Public Schools, and they buy the cookies they use to make their Scout Mint ice cream directly from local girl scouts. The menu includes both standard and unorthodox flavors (Earl Grey, anyone?), and 90 percent of the ingredients come from the Pacific Northwest. There are non-dairy options.

Load your cup with any combination of soft-serve frozen yogurts or sorbets, say, boysenberry and dulce de leche, decorate with a whimsical array of toppings, say, raspberries and gummy worms, and pay for your cool treat by weight.